Blackfeather Woods But now here we are

Without the pack, the Woods were quiet. Still and dark, with naught but the sound of ravens and the icy wind through the trees as a soundtrack. There were those here and there, who had remained--the mute priestess, Relmyna, and Abraxas--but all in all, it was like a morque, silent. Dead.

The sound of many pawsteps, then, was something that sounded in her ear like a trumpet, and when they had ceased, Maegi ceased her idle task--stuffing the moss she had continued to collect after Cicero and her brothers had left into a cache--and raced as fast as she could to the source of the noise, the pack-scent growing louder and louder in her nose until she burst onto the scene at the Redgrove.

Oh, they were back! Her heart thundered in her chest at the sight. Proud Vaati, beautiful Nyx. . .and her mentor, who was speaking to the wolves assembled. Suddenly shy, she hung back for a few seconds, but soon emerged from the shadows, ears flattened in wary apology.

She knew Vaati and Kove would be angry with her--though, she thought, not as angry as they would be with her father, taking Euron and Ramsay so far away. Maegi swallowed thickly, a wave of grief rolling over her for the thousandth time since they had left. How she wished her brothers were here with her for this reunion. Now the girl stood alone, and though she was surrounded by wolves that were fond of her--most of them, anyway--she felt bereft and powerless without her siblings at her side.